João Vale e Azevedo

João António de Araújo Vale e Azevedo (born 17 May 1957) is a Portuguese former lawyer who was the 31st president of sports club S.L. Benfica.

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Araújo and the second or paternal family name is Vale e Azevedo.
João Vale e Azevedo
Born (1957-05-17) 17 May 1957
Lisbon, Portugal
Occupation(s)Former lawyer and former president of S.L. Benfica
Criminal statusOn parole (after serving 3 years and 7 months)
SpouseFilipa Vale e Azevedo[1]
Criminal chargeEmbezzlement, document forgery, breach of trust, money laundering[2][3]
Penalty11.5 years

In relation to his three-year club presidency, he was convicted of embezzlement, document forgery, breach of trust, and money laundering.

Presidency of Benfica
A drawing of Vale e Azevedo alongside a description of his presidency of Benfica on display at Museu Benfica

On 31 October 1997, Vale e Azevedo was elected the 31st president of Portuguese sports club S.L. Benfica, succeeding Manuel Damásio. Vale e Azevedo won the club elections with 51.5% of 19,824 votes, defeating Luís Tadeu and Abílio Rodrigues.[4] Soon after, he signed Graeme Souness as coach of the football team. A year and a half later, Souness left the club and stated: "Vale e Azevedo lies when he looks in the eyes. Be careful, this man is dangerous".[5][6]

On 6 November, Vale e Azevedo declared three contracts between Benfica and Olivedesportos (Controlinveste) void and announced that he would take the case to court. The contracts, which were related to static advertising and broadcasting rights of Benfica football matches, had been signed on 28 March 1996 by his predecessor, Damásio. Eight days later, Vale e Azevedo signed an agreement protocol with SIC for the broadcasting of the club's matches at the Estádio da Luz for the 1997–98 season. On 8 February 1999, Benfica signed a new contract with SIC for the broadcasting rights of all home matches in the Portuguese league from the 1999–2000 to the 2003–04 seasons. On 2 November 2000, the contracts with Olivedesportos were declared void in court.[7]

During Vale e Azevedo's three-year presidency, which ended on 27 October 2000,[8] Benfica accumulated huge debts and occasionally was not able to pay taxes or player salaries.[9] Moreover, the football team did not win any silverware. Some of his highlights were the creation of Benfica SAD, the idealization of Benfica Futebol Campus, the signing of coach José Mourinho,[10] the cycling team's Volta a Portugal victory in 1999,[11][12] the informatisation of the club, and the start of the war against Olivedesportos.[10] Vale e Azevedo was succeeded by Manuel Vilarinho following his defeat at the club's most attended elections at the time.[10] In Benfica's General Assembly of 13 May 2005, Vale e Azevedo was expelled as member of the club.[13]

Imprisonment and release

On 16 February 2001, Vale e Azevedo was arrested at home in Almoçageme, Sintra. Months later, on 7 August, he was sent to jail. Prosecutors were concerned that he would leave the country or tamper with evidence. They investigated allegations that he had kept at least $1 million (£680,000) from the football transfer of Sergei Ovchinnikov to Alverca FC and that he had laundered cash through offshore banks in the British Virgin Islands.[4] They investigated 14 counts of embezzlement. At the time, it was reported that Vale e Azevedo's yacht, "Lucky Me", was paid with part of that money.[4][9]

On 17 April 2002, Vale e Azevedo was sentenced to four and a half years in prison in the Ovchinnikov case and was detained in Lisbon. On 8 July 2004, he was released on €250,000 bail in the Euroárea case. On 30 March 2007, he was sentenced to five years in prison in the Ribafria case. On 11 July, he was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison in the Dantas da Cunha case. On 5 May 2008, the National Republican Guard went to his house to detain him for his connection to the latter case, but he was in London, England. Two months later, on 8 July, he turned himself in at the police station in Belgravia, west London, following a European Arrest Warrant.[4][14]

Vale e Azevedo was extradited to Portugal on 13 November 2012 and was sentenced to ten years in prison on 2 July 2013, for six crimes, and ordered to pay Benfica around €7 million for the money he kept from the transfers of footballers Scott Minto (£500,000), Gary Charles (£1,200,000), Tahar El Khalej ($850,000) and Amaral.[2]

On 7 June 2016, Vale e Azevedo was released from prison on parole after serving 3 years and 7 months of his 11.5-year sentence.[15][16] He fled to London in September 2018 on a private jet to escape the 10-year prison sentence ruled in 2013.[6][17] On 22 January 2019, the Lisbon Appeal Court declared that Vale e Azevedo's alleged crimes of embezzlement of €1.2 million related to Benfica's television rights, between 1998 and 1999, had expired, 18 years after the alleged crimes. Benfica announced they would appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of Justice.[6][18][19]

References
  1. "Vale e Azevedo deixou hoje a prisão da Carregueira" [Vale e Azevedo left Carregueira prison today]. Diário Digital (in Portuguese). 7 June 2016. Archived from the original on 8 June 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  2. Machado, Catarina Durão (3 July 2013). "Vale e Azevedo condenado a mais dez anos de prisão" [Vale e Azevedo sentenced to ten more years in prison]. Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  3. "Ex-Benfica president Joao Vale e Azevedo extradited to serve fraud prison sentence". Huffington Post UK. 16 March 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  4. "Vale e Azevedo: cronologia dos acontecimentos" [Vale e Azevedo: chronology of events]. TVI24 (in Portuguese). 8 July 2007. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  5. Madureira, Nuno (14 February 2014). "A noite em que Möller-Nielsen ficou às portas do Benfica" [The night that Möller-Nielsen almost joined Benfica]. Maisfutebol (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 22 May 2015.
  6. Donn, Natasha (12 July 2019). "Vale e Azevedo tries to officially dodge 10-year jail term for embezzlement of Benfica's millions". Portugal Resident. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  7. "Benfica-Olivedesportos - cronologia de um caso" [Benfica-Olivedesportos - chronology of a case]. Maisfutebol (in Portuguese). 3 November 2000. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
  8. Esteves, António (27 October 2016). "As eleições do Benfica... já lá vão 16 anos" [Benfica elections... 16 years ago]. RTP (in Portuguese). Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  9. "Benfica face financial uncertainty". BBC Sport. 25 September 2001. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  10. Pedras, Filipe; Martins, Nuno (31 October 2017). "Do topo à queda: O princípio do fim para Vale e Azevedo" [From the top to the downfall: the beginning of the end for Vale e Azevedo]. Record (in Portuguese). Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  11. Mandim, David (22 January 2019). "Do Benfica à Carregueira, Vale e Azevedo sempre em jogo com a justiça" [From Benfica to Carregueira, Vale e Azevedo always facing justice]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 21 May 2020.
  12. "João Vale e Azevedo". S.L. Benfica. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  13. "Presidentes: os nomes que marcam a história" [Presidents: the names that mark the history]. S.L. Benfica (in Portuguese). 15 March 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
  14. "Former Benfica president arrested". BBC News. 8 July 2008. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  15. "Vale e Azevedo já foi libertado" [Vale e Azevedo has been released]. Público (in Portuguese). 7 June 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  16. "Vale e Azevedo deixa prisão em liberdade condicional" [João Vale e Azevedo leaves prison on parole]. SAPO Desporto. 7 June 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  17. "Tribunal declara prescrição de processo contra Vale e Azevedo. Desvio de fundos do Benfica ficam sem punição" [Court declares expiration of lawsuit against Vale e Azevedo. Embezzlement from Benfica goes unpunished]. Observador (in Portuguese). 25 February 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
  18. Oliveira, Mariana (22 January 2019). "Tribunal considera que crimes de Vale e Azevedo no Benfica prescreveram" [Court considers that Vale e Azevedo's crimes at Benfica expired]. Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  19. "Relação de Lisboa decreta prescrição de um dos vários processos que ainda envolvem Vale e Azevedo" [Lisbon Appeal Court decrees the expiration of one of several lawsuits involving Vale e Azevedo]. Observador (in Portuguese). 22 January 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2019.

Further reading
  • Vale e Azevedo, João (December 2002). A armadilha [The entrapment] (Third ed.). Letras Gordas. ISBN 972-8789-00-9.
  • Colaço, António Pragal (2009). A vida de Vale e Azevedo; do Benfica a Londres, toda a história de um condenado procurado pela justiça [The life of Vale e Azevedo; from Benfica to London, the whole history of a convict wanted by justice] (First ed.). Presslivre. ISBN 978-972-8996-19-2.
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